Today, an enterprise may use various backend systems to improve the performance of their organization. Examples of such backend systems may include workflow systems, business process management (BPM) systems, and case management systems. While workflow systems and BPM systems concentrate on the process of doing the work, case management systems focus on information associated with the work.
In this context, a “case” is a compendium of information, processes, analytics, rules, and collaboration that relate to a particular interaction with or issue involving a particular party such as a household, customer, supplier, patient, student, or defendant. Accordingly, a case file may include customer communications, forms, process documents, reports and supporting documentation, etc., all of which will be accessed over the length of time the case is being worked on and will need to be managed for compliance and audit. Case management, therefore, involves operating on bundles of content rather than individual documents or images.
Document management systems such as enterprise content management (ECM) systems or document management (DM) systems may be used for managing case documents. However, these systems take a single document view and may involve moving a given document through each process stage, perhaps serially. Furthermore, these systems lack the functionality and flexibility needed to deal with case management. For example, case managers may need to monitor and manage progress in cases involving collaboration inside and/or outside the enterprise. However, backend systems often lack integrated tools for frontend collaboration.